When the Name on a Document Doesn't Match the Client File

Jane Doe sends her documents for the file. A bank statement is addressed to J. Doe. A letter from another issuer names Jayne Doe. Another page carries a different surname. None of them matches the name on her file.

In this method, the Preparer puts name mismatch client documents on hold. The Preparer keeps each one out of the drafting folder, lists it on a row and asks the client whether it's theirs. When the client confirms, the Preparer notes the name as printed and the client's answer, and the document joins the folder. The Firm's own policy decides what counts as confirmation; the Reviewer decides on entries.

The plugin drafts; the Firm's preparer prepares; the Reviewer signs off. Every step here is one the Firm writes and keeps, in whatever systems the Firm already uses, and the Firm can adapt the document-handling steps; the Reviewer's sign-off on the whole file stays as it is.

This piece gives a name-variant row layout, a client message, a marking table, a pre-review check, a Doe example and a line for the Firm's AI instructions.

The client's own document under another form of the name

A document for a different person is a stray, covered in someone else's document in the client file. This piece is about the client's own document carrying a different form of the client's name.

From the page alone, the two cases can look the same. In this method, the Preparer doesn't guess which it is. The Preparer asks the client and notes the answer for the Reviewer.

What counts as a name variant, in this method

In this method, a name variant is a name close to the client's name on the file but not the same, in any of these ways:

• A different surname or first name from the one on the file.
• Initials or a short form, such as J. Doe or a nickname, where the file has the full name.
• A spelling with letters added, dropped or swapped, as in Jayne for Jane.

If the Preparer can't tell whether it's the client's document or another person's, the Preparer holds it the same way and asks the client which it is.

Holding the document before the pass

In this method, the Preparer adds a name-variant row to the file index for each document whose name differs, and keeps the document out of the drafting folder until the client answers. The Firm can add this layout to the index it already keeps.

The row records the name as printed, not a decision about whose document it is. In this method, the Preparer doesn't change the document or the name on the file. Whether the name details on the file change is for the Firm's own policy to decide.

Asking the client

In this method, the Preparer asks the client about each held document, as in the client question log. The Firm can adapt this message:

Hi Jane, thanks for the documents you sent. The name on [document] reads [name as printed], which isn't quite the name we have on your file. Could you let us know whether this document is yours? If it is, please let us know. If it isn't, let us know that too. Thanks, [Preparer name] at [Firm]

The message asks only whether the document is the client's. If the Firm's own policy calls for other wording or other steps, the Firm's wording wins.

A line for the Firm's AI instructions

In this method, when the client confirms a held document and it joins the drafting folder, the Firm adds a line, in its own words, to its instructions for the drafting pass. A version to adapt:

"Name noted: [document, copy ID] reads [name as printed]; the client confirmed it's theirs in [message reference]. Cite it by copy ID and treat no other name difference as settled; the Preparer checks and marks entries by hand."

The line is the Firm's wording, not a promise about what any drafting software does. The Preparer still checks each entry drafted from the document against the page and its name-variant row.

Noting the variant

In this method, the Preparer notes a confirmed variant on its name-variant row: the client's answer, where it came from and who noted it. If the same form comes up again, the Firm can add it to the client quirks note.

In this method, a new document with that name still gets its own row, and the Preparer checks it against the note.

Marking entries drafted from a held document

In this method, the Preparer marks by hand, in the entry's note, every entry drafted from a document that has a name-variant row. The Firm can rename the marks.

Every mark stays on its entry for the Reviewer's decision.

When the client answers

In this method, the Preparer puts the message reference under "Client asked". If the client confirms the document is theirs, the Preparer notes the answer on the row, moves the document into the drafting folder, adds the instruction line, and checks and marks each entry drafted from it by hand.

If the client says it isn't theirs, the Preparer handles it under the Firm's misfile step and notes that for the Reviewer. If the client can't say, or hasn't answered, the document stays held, and what the Firm does next is for the Firm's own policy to decide.

The pre-review check

In this method, the Preparer reads the file against this check before it goes to the Reviewer. The Firm can add its own lines.

• Each document whose name differs from the file has a name-variant row.
• Each row shows the name as printed, the name on the file and who listed it.
• Each held document has a client message.
• No held document sits in the drafting folder without the client's confirmation.
• Each confirmed document has the client's answer and its message reference on its row.
• The Firm's instructions hold a name line for each confirmed document in the drafting folder.
• Entries drafted from these documents carry marks set by hand.

Who holds and who decides

The Firm names people for the document-handling steps; the Reviewer decides on entries and signs off. People at the Firm do every step.

A mark or a name-variant row tells the Reviewer where to look. It isn't a sign-off and doesn't stand in for one. The Reviewer sees every marked entry and name-variant row and decides what happens with each entry, and the Reviewer signs off on the whole file, name-variant rows included. No file is done without the Reviewer's sign-off.

A Doe example

The names and file below are made up for illustration.

Jane Doe is a synthetic client of the Firm. Alex Doe is the Preparer and Pat Doe is the Reviewer. Jane's file shows her name as Jane Doe.

Among Jane's documents, Alex finds a bank statement addressed to J. Doe and a letter addressed to Jayne Doe. Alex holds them out of the drafting folder, in the place the Firm names for held documents, and fills in a name-variant row for each: initials for the statement, a spelling for the letter.

Alex sends Jane the message for each. Jane replies that the statement is hers. About the letter, she says it isn't hers.

Alex notes Jane's answer and message reference on the statement's row, moves the statement into the drafting folder and adds the instruction line. Alex runs the drafting pass on the folder. Alex checks the statement's drafted entries against the page and row and marks them name confirmed, by hand.

Alex follows the Firm's misfile step, noting Jane's answer and message reference on the letter's row for Pat. Alex runs the pre-review check and sends the file to Pat. Pat reviews the marked entries and the name-variant rows, including the letter's row, decides what happens with each entry, and signs off on the whole file.

Where TracePrep fits

We've built a TracePrep plugin that drafts these steps in your Firm's workflow, while your preparer decides and your Reviewer signs off. Join the waitlist and we'll tell you when plugin access opens.

Get on the list for plugin access

This is general information, not tax or legal advice. In TracePrep's workflow, the plugin drafts, the Firm's preparer prepares, and the Firm's Reviewer signs off. Access to the plugin is by waitlist. Keep client data inside the systems your Firm has approved.